Tag: Israel

Gen. James Mattis, who has been tapped for secretary of defense, also said he was against getting involved in Syria and warned that military action can’t resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.

In this new book, the award-winning Truthdig columnist discusses taboo topics in America—including his experience as a radical war correspondent at The New York Times—with fellow journalist David Talbot.

The Obama administration’s recent 10-year, $38 billion pledge to renew Israel’s arsenal of weaponry, while still ostensibly pursuing “peace,” makes clear that Washington’s support for a two-state solution is bankrupt.

Despite the ups and downs in his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facts and figures from Obama’s presidency tell a story of unprecedented support for Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.

Make no mistake, the late Shimon Peres was a hard-line Israeli nationalist, but he also was a dedicated socialist and at one point headed Socialist International. That stance helped him appreciate the need for human rights for all human beings.

The Los Angeleno was involved with prime ministers, presidents and kings and played a major role in some of the most significant political events of the latter half of the 20th century. A documentary by Patty Sharaf chronicles his life.

Since 2008, the Department of Defense has been funding research that studies the dynamics of civil unrest; some planes have what is called a “corpse cupboard” to store dead passengers; and it turns out that the first person to use an umbrella in England was publicly shamed for his audacious attempt to stay dry. These discoveries and more after the jump.

Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy wants readers to stop being in denial about Israel’s malevolent acts; the Black Lives Matter movement is getting stronger and clearer on its goals; and Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks are in a public argument over how to handle leaks. These discoveries and more after the jump.

Medea Benjamin explains how Ariel Gold, a Code Pink activist, was kicked out of the convention hall for protesting New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s opposition to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

I am convinced that it is in the vital interest of Israel to make peace with the Palestinian people, and with the Arab world at large, before the dangerous infection of extreme ideology engulfs the entire region.

Bernie Sanders’ fundraising techniques made him stand out in the primaries, but there was something very conventional about his campaign; the Democratic Party may be beyond saving by progressives at this point; meanwhile, is AIPAC’s influence in D.C. fading? These discoveries and more after the jump.

Ron Huldai, mayor of Tel Aviv, reacted with enormous sadness to last week’s terrorist attack on the Sarona Market area of his city, committed by a teenager from the occupied Palestinian West Bank, killing four. But he then went on to put the attack in context.

Same-sex experiences are increasingly common among Americans these days; Paul Ryan wants to turn the GOP into Uber; meanwhile, American Jews are rethinking their relationship with Israel. These discoveries and more after the jump.

After New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order directing the state to monitor activists in the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, critics called the order McCarthyism.

The renowned British historian and activist in the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against the occupation of Palestine has made headlines recently for her refusal to accept a prestigious Israeli academic prize.

In this week’s edition of “Scheer Intelligence,” Truthdig’s editor in chief speaks to the author of the book “Children of the Stone: The Power of Music in a Hard Land” about music’s role in the life of children in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

It’s a dangerous inversion: In Israel, according to Ronen Bergman in his analysis for The New York Times, the relationship that Benjamin Netanyahu and other politicians are cultivating with their country’s military and intelligence leaders is one in which the wrong side is making the case for caution.

The former secretary of state used to hold a more nuanced view on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in contrast to the fact that she now seems to blindly support Benjamin Netanyahu’s increasingly right-wing regime.

The fallout from a witch hunt in which British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters were accused of anti-Semitism reminds us that both sides flinging comparisons with Nazism at each other only distracts from the legitimate issue of Palestinian rights.

Dismissing young Bernie Sanders supporters’ concerns could have terrible consequences; two vegan restaurant owners are in deep water after it was revealed that they eat meat; meanwhile, brothers raised as Americans share the remarkable story of finding out their parents were Russian spies. These discoveries and more after the jump.

Haaretz writer Gideon Levy outlines the most effective method to stopping Israel’s occupation of Palestine; scientists may have found a battery that “lasts forever”; meanwhile, the anti-Semitism crisis in the U.K.‘s Labour Party may have actually been manufactured by the Israel lobby. These discoveries and more after the jump.

Israeli lawmaker Haneen Zoabi declined to participate in a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, citing her inability to speak out against what she called the “frightening similarity” between Nazi Germany’s behavior and Israel’s policies in the occupied territories, reports the newspaper Haaretz.

The Democratic presidential front-runner published a blog piece “doing what can only be described as ‘goysplaining,’ ” which, writes Ben Norton at Salon, is when a non-Jew condescendingly accuses “a Jew of betraying his own people for criticizing Israel.”

The far-right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled the stunt of holding a Cabinet meeting in the Occupied Golan Heights—a first—on Sunday, and Netanyahu engaged in some grandstanding, declaring that his country will never relinquish this patch of Syria.